"Quality of the build in DAC sound akin to that of the Marantz CD player, warm and detail."

REVIEW:

The NAD T163 Preamp processor is one of a very few seperates available that can do what it does for a street price of around $1300 or less. There are receivers out there that have as many or more bells and whistles, but each are succeptable to any negative effects that might be caused by an amplifier being housed under the same hood. If receivers are your preference, then buying the NAD probably doesn't make much sense, but if seperates are your game then the NAD T163 should be on a short list to consider.

The NAD is a hefty unit for a prepro, for all its guts it is a robust 18 lbs. The cosmetics are what you might expect from any NAD product, no glitz or glam, just a simple gray face that is reserved and to the point. The display reads well with its large, blue characters which can be read easily from typical listening postions. The volume knob turns fluidly in 1db increments.

The T163 shines most with its stereo performance, which seemed to be the largest single improvement over the receiver that I had been using in the very same setup previously. The sound is very neutral, lacking any hint of the brightness that the Sony DA4ES exhibited. Typically you know when a unit can do stereo well, it's going to to perform well with movies also, this unit is no exception as movies sound great. The typical array of dts and dolby decoding is complemented by NAD's proprietary EARS decoding which sounds more natural than most DSPs typically used, and is great for casual TV viewing. A 7 channel stereo mode is also included.

Another most impressive thing about the T163 is the ease in which it can be used. The thought process that went into making the menus and functionalitly of this unit shows, and the people responsible for designing it deserve kudos. It is truly "user-friendly superior" to anything else I've ever layed my hands on, which so far includes SONY, ONKYO, HARMON KARDON, YAMAHA, ONKYO and JVC receivers. No more digging deep into some hard to find feature menu to try and find a particular setting as each of the NAD's menus are well identified and very intuitive. I mastered every aspect in the control of this unit is less than a days time, so you can expect a high WAP in this area.

The T163 has 5 fully customizable settings that are stored in non-volatile memory. So say you have a DVD Combi player where you use both the optical and 7.1 analog outputs, one for DVD playback, and one for SACD playback respectiively. You could use the customizable settings to quickly switch between your saved settings and allow for proper level adjustments, and input assigment with a touch of a button. This is just one of many examples for this extremely flexible feature.

The customizable naming of the input devices is possible, so you can name the VCR input a Tivo, or what have you, if you prefer.

Often overlooked by manufacturer's is the tuner section. It is nice to see that NAD didn't skimp on quality here. The unit can interpret off air RDS data and scroll the station name, song playing etc. on the display. Also the tuner plays very cleanly and has truly solid reception capabilites. Station presets can be custom named like that of the input devices

The T163 includes a learning, back lit remote. Some of the buttons are a little on the small side, but overall it has a nice clean look and feel. I prefer my MX-500 to this remote, but I could say that about just about any remote out there. Also included is a credit card sized 2nd remote which operates all the 2nd room/zone functionality independent of the main room.

Another nice feature is the ability to make on the fly adjustments for the Center, Surrounds, and Subwoofer levels. So if the bass in U-571 is a little much for your wife she can just tap it down under control, and then later you can go back to your preset or just tap it right back up again.

ProsStereo Sound is clean, natural, and unalteredMovies are great tooEase of use is astonishingOn the fly Level AdjustmentsNice Readable DisplayExcellent tuner sectionFew prepros cost this littleRS-232 Upgradable